This was supposed to be posted yesterday!

new note: tried posting this yesterday, but was unable to get access. i'm now with my host family and will update more about them later tonight. everything is really peachy though!


Here I am sitting in hot springs at the top of a mountain in the Andes.

We stayed at this most unbelievable bed and breakfast, in the middle of farmlands. The house was an old white home, it kind of looked like an italian villa. The views of the mountains were everywhere, and it was just a really relaxing place. The owner, Mary, was so kind to us and spoiled us with excellent food! We visited a winery on saturday, my very first time. and that was a lot of fun! We sampled some reds and whites and even though I don't quite have a pallet(sp?) for wine yet, it was very nice. Sunday, however, was my favoirte day. We drove up through part of the andes to see some of the most incredible views. We saw several glacier topped mountains, which is a new thing for me! The view honestly took my breath away. They cause you to think only in the present moment, which was very nice for me. We finally made it through a 20 mile unpaved road to these incredible hot springs. There were about 5 different pools with beautiul views of the andes. We bathed in a few of them, and even covered ourselves in mud. This is the tradition for the people, apparently the mud has healing qualities so we soaked ourselves in mud as well. All in all, it was a wonderful adventure.

Monday morning we got up early and drove to the Santiago Airport (we had a lot of problems getting there, but this gracious man ended up driving to the airpoort while we followed behind. I honestly don't think we would have gotten there without him. I was so impressed with his generosity. I said my goodbyes to Sherry and my dad and met up with the other kids on the program. Everyone was spread out across the floor on one area of the airport, so it was really intimidating to just go up and talk to people. But i felt really confident that morning, so I gained up some energy and started introducing myself around. All in all, the people here are so impressive. They each have incredible tales and so far, have been very open to expressing themselves. We had to randomly choose two other roommates to stay with these next couple of days, so I am staying with some girls i met on the bus. They are very nice and good to talk to. I can see myself becoming closer friends with a lot of these people, but at this point it is hard to really form strong bonds. It will happen sooner rather than later I am sure.

Today we have just been having an orientation, which we will be having many more orientations in the days to come. Later today I will find out who my host family is, and I will meet them and move in with them tomorrow afternoon. I am a little anxious about it, but I trust that this future family will be wonderful.

Sorry for all of the writing, if you made it this far, thanks for reading :)

I've been able to have internet access here, which has been really great. So drop me a line, cause I'm able to see it!

May you find happiness today in life's simple pleasures, that is my goal as well.

Sending love from Chile,

Nessa

technical difficulties

Sorry guys, I am having trouble uploading photos because the internet is so slow. I hope to get them up sooner rather than later though!

Just as an update. we have spent the past two days exploring Viña del mar and Valparaiso. We also made our way down to some smaller beach towns called Reñaca and Concon. It is incredible how many people are out and about. I have never seen so many people in the same place at the same time!! And they are all over the beaches! It is nice to see so many families out together. Almost everyone on the beach is a family with kids (old or young) it is a really nice sight.

anyway, tomorrow morning we are getting up early and driving inland to a vineyard called Concho y Toro. We have been drinking excellent wine here! If you are a wine drinker, i suggest tasting some chilean wine. It should be a really relaxing weekend before meeting up with the whole group. I am really excited about meeting all of the other kids from the U.S - just from touching base briefly on facebook I can tell that they are going to be a really good group!

anyway, off to shower and then enjoy my last night here (at least for another couple of days)

Sending love from the wonderful country of chile,

vanessa!!

ps - both my dad and I got really sick yesterday with stomach issues. His were more digestive, but mine was more like sharp pains. we aren't sure if it is from the food or what, but hopefully we'll be back to good in no time!

I made it!

Hola friends and family!

So I made it to Chile! The flight wasn´t too bad, i met up with my dad and sherry in Atlanta, Georgia and then took a 9 hour flight to Santiago. I took a sleeping pill and pretty much watched a few TV episodes on the the airplane and then fell asleep. It wasn´t exactly the most comfortable sleep because my my neck was all stiff but it worked out.

We got into Santiago at 9am and it was sort of overwhelming, but overall it was a very orderly airport. we found our bags, no problem, and took a cab to our hotel. the roads were exceptionally nice and from the taxi you could see mountains in every direction and a lot of lush green. we checked into our hotel and immediately went out walking the city. Santiago is huge, wayyyy bigger than any other city i´ve ever been to. but it is very clean and has a lot of natural life. to be honest, within the first few hours I had already fallen in love with the city.

we took a bus tour around santiago later that day and saw all sorts of things, it is hard to describe them all really. it is similar to europe in ways, but it has its very distinct local flavor. that night we went out for wine (local from a neearby vineyard) and then to a seafeood restaurant for dinner. i had the chilean sea bass, and it was the most incredible fish i have ever had in my life. i couldn´t believe how good it was!

Tuesday was another busy day, we used the metro (subway) and went to a big mountain thing, we took a funicular which is sort of like a cable car up. That was really scary because it went straight up the mountain! then we took a gondola over the city. after, we explored the city a lot more on foot. It is seriously one of my favorite places i´ve ever been.

we had dinner at a pizza place and went to bed early so that we could drive to Vina del mar (the place where i´´ll be living) this morning.

All in all, this has been a wonderful time. I haven´t felt too much culture shock yet because i have been with my dad and sherry and i have felt very welcomed by the people. i have been speaking spanish at every place, and have been complimented several times which helps me to raise my confidence and speak even more.

today when we got into vina, i was a little worried because our hotel was in a unique part of town. after walking the beach for awhile, i decided this is definietely a place i could live. it is so strange to think about the fact that i will actually be living here everyday for the next 6 months. i have really high hopes for it though, and thus far i have no negative remarks.

we layed on the beach today for most of the afternoon and are now in the hotel cleaning up before going out for dinner. i downloaded most of my pictures onto my computer yesterday, so i just need to find a place with wireless in order to post them. (right now i am on the free computer in the hotel) anyway, i´ve been taking a billion pictures and i really can´t wait to show them to you.

i really thank you for reading my blog, and for all of the comments. it feels so grea to know that you are out there supporting me. i hope all is well with you!

all of my love,

vanessa.

p.s you know how we have crossguards, people dressed in yellow that stop traffic with flags... well here all of the crossguards are young girls, and then twirl their flags like buttons. it is so cool to see, almost like they are puttng on a show. haha, just a little side note about one of the many many many unique things here.

My Last Post in the USA

Querido Lectores,

Today I am very nervous. What the hell did I get myself into? I have been longing to get away and experience something new.. really do something different! But today I am kicking myself for this adventurous soul of mine. My heart and my head love to battle. My heart is so willing to try new things and get out of my comfort zone. My heart is so excited to experience this incredible world of ours. My head, on the other hand, is lecturing me. What could have possibly convinced me that leaving my home, my family, my friends and any sense of normalcy and moving to South America would be a good idea? I have had knots in my stomach for the past two days. I know that what I am about to embark on is an experience that I am so fortunate to have. I am so blessed to have the means and the time to take this trip, and I will most likely never have an experience like this again. That is why I have to listen to Jack Johnson when he says:

"You don't always have to hold your head, higher than you heart"

For those of you who don't exactly know where Chile is... here you go! Here is where I am going to spend the next 6 months.


So last night my mom threw a wonderful going away party for me at our country club. We had the most delicious chilean food! It was a four course meal with Scallops, Shepards Pie, Chicken with chilean sauce and a chilean type of cookie for dessert. It was incredible! I hope that all food in Chile is that delicious. I had 4 friends come and then Steve's family also came to celebrate with us. It was a ton of fun, full of sombrero hats and salsa dancing (which i'm sure is more mexican than anything else, but we were creative with what we had) It was a really nice send off.






I really enjoyed the going away party, and thank you to everyone who came to say goodbye to me. It really meant a lot to me to have you there, encouraging me in my dreams.

So tomorrow I board a plane at 3:30pm from Minneapolis, I have a layover in Atlanta, Georgia where I meet up with my dad and sherry. We then take a 9.5 hour flight to Santiago, Chile. Oh goodness.


Thanks for reading my blog, it feels so nice to know that people are following me and helping me get through this big leap of faith. I hope you all find peace in your hearts today and dream a little about the adventures you are going to have throughout your life.

Sending my all of my love in my final moments in the United States, Happy Valentine's day too!

*vanessa*

P.S - "One doesn't discover new lands without consenting to lose sight of the shore for a very long time"

Oo valentines surprise!

I found a little treat outside my door this morning! My good friend Morgan's mom sent me a little valentine's day care package! What a darling woman. Thank you Mrs. Siegrist, you spoil me :) It was full of popcorn, sweethearts, chocolate hearts, jelly beans and the most darling little monkey! The note said : "Miss you, have fun in Chile! And happy valentine's day!" It honestly made my day!



I am almost finished packing!! My mom and I spent the afternoon shoving clothes into the space saver bag things, and I officially have more than enough room! Which is always nice :) Now just throwing in the final things like photos, stuff to decorate my room, health and beauty aids... and other things! Oh boy, countdown is down.

Sending love, Thanks again Mrs. Siegrist!!

*Vanessa*

Ps - I took my computer into the Apple store because it wasn't working well and I ended up getting almost EVERYTHING re-done. I got a new battery, a new charger, a new keyboard and front screen, and new inner workings. haha. Apple Care is amazing.. i got it all for free!! Buy Apple. And buy apple Care.

4 days left.

Good Afternoon Blog Readers,

I have been passing out cards with my blog address on it, so I hope that means there are going to be more and more readers! Just as a little hint, I LOVE comments.. so leave 'em. :)

I have had a really great couple of days around here. My friend Peter came back from Korea (where he has been living the past 1.5 years) to visit for a month, and he just went back home today! But everyone has been trying to squeeze in as much peter time as possible so we have been doing a lot of fun things. My favorite was that on Monday night, we went out dancing at Famous Daves to live music. I think there were some good pictures taken, so hopefully i can post them later.

I had a big test to take on Monday, it was called the PRAXIS exam which is a basic knowledge test that everyone who is considering being a teacher needs to take. In order to go on with the education program, you must first pass thist test. I studied most of the weekend, and when I got to the test on Monday morning, I was highly prepared. It was a 5 hour test.. so it was a long day. Luckily, I got 95% on the math section and 98% on the reading section. The writing section is graded and then sent to you in the mail, so assuming I passed that one too.. then I'm in the clear!

Otherwise I have been packing like crazy. I pretty much have everything i want to bring downstairs laying in piles on the floor. Haha, today my mom is coming home early and we are going to sit down and go through all of my clothes, to make sure I am bringing enough/not too much. I have been throwing in a lot of sentiemental things like old notes and a photobook... i just feel like if I get homesick I can rely on those. Also, i want to use the pictures to decorate my room a little bit in chile, make it feel more like my own.

Other than that, i sent out 30 valentines this year :) I took some pictures so after the big day, i will post them. I worked pretty hard on them!

Well I am off to enjoying my last four days at home. I hope all is well with you.

Until next time,

vanessa.

p.s - listen to the beatles today, they will change your life.

First Woman in the North Pole

So I had the pleasure of hearing and meeting Ann Bancroft, the first woman who went to the North Pole and who has explored Antarctica several times. She is a actually from Minnesota and she has a foundation where she gives grants to girls in Minnesota who are looking to discover a passion but cannot afford it. For example, the grants will cover lessons to learn to play an instrument, or they will pay for a summer camp focusing on outdoors...etc. So there is a group of I want to say 8 women, who are on this Ann Bancroft Foundation committee. My beautiful mother just happens to be one of these generous women :) So needless to say I have an 'in' with this woman.




So yesterday my mom and I went to the Best Buy headquarters to listen to her speak. What an inspirational woman! She told her stories and showed pictures of her times exploring. Her photos were fantastic but mostly I loved hearing about how she kept going in a field of work - 'exploration' where no other women were exploring. She talked about how there were times when she thought she couldn't go on, and how she gained the courage to continue. All in all, it was a perfect sending off for me, giving me so much inspiration for my trip.

When life is tough, just remember it is an adventure and go exploring.

Sending encouragement,

Vanessa.

Home :)

So my trip to Madison was unbelievable! I had the most fantastic time with Mia, her roommates and all. Friday night we went out for Hibachi (meaning the japanese style restaurant that cooks right in front of you!) and had sake bombs! Then after that, we went out to our friend from home, Joe's house for a house party. We had a ton of fun there. It was weird to go out at a different school, cause the social aspect is so different.

( a pic of mia and I from this weekend, being goofy!)

Saturday we had a nice lunch, went shopping along state street and saturday night we made a home-cooked meal (or katherine cooked for us) and we drank wine and played board games with about 5 people. It was a lot of fun, I LOVE board games! So it was my kinda night.

Other than that, we did yoga, went to see "new in town", made a couple more dinners, had thai food.. etc. All in all it was a WONDERFUL trip!

On tuesday morning at 5 am i left madison and took a 4 hours bus to Chicago. I had to go to El Consulado de Chile to receive my visa! One cool story, so I was taking the elevator up to the "consulado" and another couple in the elevator was speaking spanish, talking to me, so I spoke back to them (in spanish). As we were getting up there, the man asked me "Are you chilean?" He told me that he was. Meaning a man from Chile, possibly believed that i was from there! And when i said no, he said.." you have a very good accent!" That was really flattering that a man FROM chile thought that a) i looked chilean and b) my spanish wasn't so bad.

Anyway, then I spent a couple of hours in chicago, and then got back on a bus and spent 8 hours going home. All in all it was a day of 20 hours of traveling. Oh boy.. i was exhausted!

Today I work at 4, other than that I will just be finishing my valentines! And packing and what not. Good day i hope :)

Happy Thursday

Much Love,

Vanessa.